Tag Archive: Archaeology

True Gaelic: Unearthing Medieval Ireland is a documentary that takes you along as archeologists unearth a mysterious Irish lordship dating to the Middle Ages. Powerful Irish lords ruled over this land but very little has been known about their uniquely Gaelic way of life—until now. This excavation promises to rewrite Irish history as the unknown…

Medieval finds that were preserved in an ancient rubbish dump in Newcastle city centre have been described as some of the richest discoveries ever in the city. Archaeologists have uncovered pottery, animal bone and leather in a dig at the old Newgate shopping centre construction site. It is thought the objects, which have been preserved…

A medieval stone causeway has been discovered underneath a field in Oxford during excavations ahead of a flood alleviation scheme. The Environment Agency’s £120m project aims to reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses in the city. Oxford Archaeology has spent three months evaluating the city’s floodplain. It also found evidence of Bronze…

Fly in to Glasgow Airport and you’re likely to see the bright lights of the city to the east, the runway below – certainly a glimpse of the River Clyde winding its way through the city. What you won’t notice as readily is a piece of history dating back to the sixth century – and…

A stone carved with symbols known as runes and dating to the Middle Ages has been discovered during an excavation ahead of a railway-construction project in Oslo, Norway. The runes, which were found engraved on a whetstone (a stone used for sharpening knives), date to sometime around 1,000 years ago when the Vikings (also called…

A large medieval treasure has been unearthed during excavations last September at the Abbey of Cluny, a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. The discovery has already been named the largest cache of silver deniers discovered, numbering 2,200 deniers and oboles, in addition to 21 Islamic gold dinars, a signet ring and several other…

Archaeologists in Czechia have uncovered 30 mass graves from the High Middle Ages, containing between them a total of around 1,500 skeletons. That’s a record number of skeletons in Bohemia from the High Middle Ages. And, according to lead archaeologist Jan Frolík of the Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology, a record for the…

Bones from the famous Danish Viking king, Gorm the Old, have been reconstructed and printed in 3D. Gorm the Old was the first to call himself king of Denmark. He was also the first to use the name ‘Denmark’ for the country he reigned over for decades until his death in 958. Scientists used a…

The skull pieces were discovered by archeologists above the Arctic Circle on the remote permafrost Gydan peninsula close to the Kara Sea in Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region. Scientists last year announced the find of the turquoise-coloured bronze bowl fragment – originally from Persia, some 6,000 kilometres to the south – but now say that this unique…

A fort that is more than 1,000 years old, dating back to the time of Alfred the Great, has been unearthed in Scotland, more than 200 years after it was thought to have been completely destroyed. The ancient fort was built by the Picts, a loose confederation of tribes who lived in what is now…

Archaeologists have discovered a centuries-old grave at a medieval burial site in London where plague victims, religious dissenters and poor people were laid to rest from the 1500s, and uncovered early evidence of people trying to stop grave robbing. The New Churchyard, or Bedlam burial ground, is a huge graveyard in the center of London…

Completely preserved medieval sword from the 14th century has been discovered at a peat bog near Hrubieszów. The finder donated the artefact to the local Fr. Stanisław Staszic Museum. “This is a unique find in the region” – said Bartłomiej Bartecki, director of the museum. The sword was discovered last week in the Commune of…

Lost an earring in the kitchen? Don’t get upset. Wait 900 years or so and somebody’s sure to find it. That’s what’s happening in Israel, where 2,500 schoolkids have been participating, one class at a time, in the excavation of a Crusader fortress on Tittora Hill, 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem in the town of…

Archaeologists working at a 900-year-old castle have found “rare and unexpected” artefacts. An ornate Roman coin, medieval silver pennies, a copper figurine, a thimble, window glass and a key were unearthed. Foundations were also discovered, showing the original structure of Auckland Castle in County Durham was “significantly larger” than thought. Curatorial director Dr Christopher Ferguson…

Yesterday archeologists discovered a second boat burial at an archeological site at Dysnes ness in Eyjafjörður fjord in North Iceland. On Tuesday a burial site where a Viking age chief was buried in his boat, along with his sword and dog had been discovered. Two other graves dating to the Viking age have been found…